What to Ask Before Commissioning a Bespoke Rug

A client once asked me to recreate a 16th-century Safavid carpet they'd seen at auction, but smaller, in different colours, and "more contemporary." After twenty years of crafting bespoke rugs, I've learned that the most successful commissions begin not with grand visions, but with the right questions.

Understanding Your Space and Lifestyle

Before our weavers in Nepal begin hand-knotting your piece, we need to understand how you actually live. I always ask clients about foot traffic, furniture placement, and whether children or pets will share the room. These aren't mere practicalities—they inform every aspect of the design and construction.

Consider a recent commission for a London townhouse. The client wanted a large-format piece for the entrance hall, an area with significant daily traffic. We selected hand-spun Tibetan highland wool for its exceptional durability and specified a tighter knot count. For the same client's bedroom, we used natural silk with a looser weave, prioritising lustrous beauty over heavy-duty performance.

Ask yourself: will this be a centrepiece admired from a distance, or a lived-in element that grounds your daily routine? The answer shapes everything from fibre selection to pile height.

Material Choices That Matter

The romance of bespoke rug creation often centres on colour and pattern, but the foundation lies in understanding materials. I've watched too many clients become enchanted by a silk rug's luminous appearance, only to be disappointed when high heels leave permanent impressions in the pile.

Our hand-spun wool from the Tibetan highlands offers remarkable resilience and develops a beautiful patina over decades. Natural silk provides unmatched lustre but asks for more considerate treatment. We also work with various wool-silk combinations, each bringing distinct characteristics to a piece.

Ask your rug maker about the provenance of their materials. Our fibres come from sources we've cultivated over decades—suppliers who share our commitment to Care & Fair certification, ensuring ethical labour practices throughout the supply chain. This isn't merely about conscience; it's about quality. Artisans working in fair conditions create superior pieces.

Don't overlook cleaning and maintenance. A wool-silk blend might be perfect for your drawing room but impractical for a family kitchen. We always provide detailed care instructions, but prevention remains more elegant than cure.

Design Development and Approval Process

The most common misconception about commissioning a bespoke rug is that you describe what you want and receive it six months later. The reality involves several rounds of design development, sampling, and refinement.

We begin with detailed conversations about your aesthetic preferences, but I often find that a client's initial ideas evolve significantly during the design process. Perhaps they've requested deep burgundy, but when we present colour samples, they discover that a more subtle claret better complements their existing furnishings.

Our design team prepares technical drawings showing exact dimensions, pattern placement, and colour specifications. We then produce strike-offs—small samples showing actual materials and dyes—before production begins. This stage requires patience. Rushing approval of these samples often leads to disappointment with the finished piece.

Ask about revision policies before committing. How many design iterations are included? What happens if you want to modify colours after seeing the first samples? Understanding these parameters prevents misunderstandings later.

Timeline and Investment Considerations

Hand-knotting cannot be rushed. Our weavers in Nepal and northern India work at the pace required for excellence—typically between 4,000 and 8,000 knots per day, depending on the pattern, the number of colours used, and the weaving density. A large drawing room piece might require four to six months of dedicated work.

I encourage clients to think beyond immediate gratification. A properly commissioned bespoke rug becomes a family heirloom. We've made pieces that have moved through three generations, improving with age like fine wine.

Investment levels vary dramatically based on size, materials, and design complexity. A modest bedroom piece might begin around €3,000, while a grand reception room commission can exceed €50,000. You're not purchasing floor covering—you're investing in months of skilled craftsmanship and materials sourced from some of the world's most remote regions.

The most successful bespoke rug commissions result from honest conversations about expectations, timelines, and investment levels. We'd rather decline a commission than deliver disappointment.

Contact us or visit our showroom in Evergem, Belgium.